Tetsuko Umezawa, Frugal Ninja

Commander / EDH Budget Casual Mono-Blue Theme/Gimmick

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Creature (26)

• 1x AEtherling
• 1x Apprentice Wizard
• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Blighted Agent
• 1x Charix, the Raging Isle
• 1x Deadeye Quartermaster
• 1x Eternal of Harsh Truths
• 1x Ghostly Pilferer
• 1x Graceful Adept
• 1x Hedron Crawler
• 1x Illusory Ambusher
• 1x Library Larcenist
• 1x Manakin
• 1x Mist-Syndicate Naga
• 1x Murmuring Mystic
• 1x Nadir Kraken
• 1x Neurok Commando
• 1x Nimble Obstructionist
• 1x Psychosis Crawler
• 1x Salvager of Ruin
• 1x Scroll Thief
• 1x Silver Myr
• 1x Soul Seizer  ^Flip
• 1x Surrakar Spellblade
• 1x Tandem Lookout
• 1x Thrummingbird

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor

Artifact (15)

• 1x Butcher's Cleaver
• 1x Captain's Claws
• 1x Corrupted Grafstone
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Explorer's Scope
• 1x Fireshrieker
• 1x Forebear's Blade
• 1x Kefnet's Monument
• 1x Livewire Lash
• 1x Mask of Memory
• 1x O-Naginata
• 1x Ovalchase Dragster
• 1x Prying Blade
• 1x Runechanter's Pike
• 1x Silver-Inlaid Dagger

Instant (8)

• 1x Foil
• 1x Gift of Tusks
• 1x Lazotep Plating
• 1x Mizzium Skin
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Rewind
• 1x Thassa's Rebuff
• 1x Unwind

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Arm with AEther
• 1x Fade Away
• 1x Hands of Binding
• 1x Hidden Strings
• 1x Last Thoughts
• 1x Stolen by the Fae

Commander (1)

Land (38)

• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Desert of the Mindful
• 1x Emergence Zone
• 1x Faerie Conclave
• 27x Island
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Memorial to Genius
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Remote Isle
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Spawning Bed

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Curiosity
• 1x Ominous Seas
• 1x Reconnaissance Mission
• 1x Sigil of Sleep
• 1x Teferi's Veil

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Maybeboard

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Chart a Course
• 1x Clear the Mind
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Distant Memories

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Frogify

Artifact (4)

• 1x Midnight Clock
• 1x Neurok Stealthsuit
• 1x Scytheclaw
• 1x Sky Diamond

Creature (4)

• 1x Dreamscape Artist
• 1x Tribute Mage
• 1x Trinket Mage
• 1x Trophy Mage

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All cards featured in this deck are under $1, including the commander, as of this posting. Prices fluctuate, so some cards may become invalid over time.

Mono-blue has some very potent commanders, but gets tricky on a budget. Talrand, Sky Summoner is a popular choice, but I chose Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive . At 2 mana, he can come down early and grant creatures evasion, generating card advantage or big damage. There are LOTS of creatures to chose from, so this deck can be built in a variety of ways. We'll be using both 1-power creatures to provide utility, and 1-toughness creatures to smash face with. It shares some similarities with my deck on Danitha Capashen, Paragon , but instead of an emphasis on going tall, this deck seeks to slip through opposing cracks, draw lots of cards, and respond to threats.

I think this deck does a good job of doing just that--Nearly everything in this deck can't be blocked as long as Tetsuko is in play, and it's good at keeping your hand filled. Just having untapped blue mana and a full hand of cards is enough to frighten players. However, it can be easily ambushed by stronger creatures. This deck also depends on keeping some creatures at 1 toughness, which are not easy to keep alive. If they are kept alive though, they can be a real problem pretty quickly.

Saboteurs

"Saboteur" is a Wizards R&D term for a creature with an ability that triggers when it deals combat damage to a player. In this deck, these specific cards will draw you more cards for going to combat.

• Scroll Thief is the most basic saboteur, drawing you a card when it deals damage to an opponent. Neurok Commando also does, but has shroud. That means you can't "target" it with an attachment, but hexproof would be pretty busted.

• Eternal of Harsh Truths draws you a card if it isn't blocked, which it won't be if Tetsuko is in play.

• Tandem Lookout can make itself and another creature draw a card for damaging players (which does stack).

• Library Larcenist doesn't need to deal damage--just attack.

• Ghostly Pilferer works a little differently. You have to pay when it untaps to draw a card, but it's cheaper than the others, and it can give itself evasion if needed. It can also draw you cards when your opponents cast their commanders from the command zone or spells from other zones. Narrow, but nice.

• Reconnaissance Mission is strictly better than Coastal Piracy , yet it's cheaper? Nevermind, don't question it. As mentioned earlier, this trigger stacks with other draw triggers, so I hope you like drawing cards.

• Rogue's Gloves is an equipment that gives you another draw trigger.

• Curiosity is an aura that gives you yet another draw trigger.

• Last Thoughts is a sorcery, but since you can encode it to a creature, it becomes yet another draw trigger.

Utility

These are various cards that reward you for drawing cards and provide versatility.

• Nadir Kraken gives you an ever-growing monster and additional 1/1 attackers with all that card drawing.

• Psychosis Crawler can drain your opponents, helping speed up the game.

• Ominous Seas can slowly churn out 8/8 tokens, which isn't shabby for a one-time 2-mana investment.

• Thrummingbird is a 1/1 body that can proliferate! More on that later.

• Nimble Obstructionist is a 1-toughness beater, or a counter spell for an ability that might throw your opponent off guard.

• Graceful Adept is a 1-power creature that gives you no maximum hand size, which is a hard ability to find under $1.

• Soul Seizer   is a 1-power Mind Control . While it's not as immediate, you can play it and let it sit there until your opponent plays a creature you'd like for yourself.

• Deadeye Quartermaster can get you any equipment or Ovalchase Dragster , which is awesome to have in blue.

• Murmuring Mystic gives you 1/1s for your instants and sorceries.

• Hidden Strings has all kinds of uses. You can untap two lands, artifacts, or mana dorks, untap two of your creatures for pseudo-vigilance, tap down two of your opponent's threats, or any combination of one of each.

Thumpers

These provide some utility, but are primarily intended to be 1-toughness creatures you can suit up and smash face with.

• Mist-Syndicate Naga can ninjutsu itself into play, creating an evasive token that can just keep multiplying.

• Illusory Ambusher is primarily a great blocker, sacrificing itself to draw you a bunch of cards, but it can be put to the offensive in this deck, and still draw you cards if it takes damage and dies.

• Ovalchase Dragster is a vehicle that Tetsuko himself can crew and deal some hefty damage with. The haste is especially nice.

• Blighted Agent provides infect as an alternative finisher. It's not pretty, but it's good to have options.

• AEtherling provides various utility, either as a blocker or as an 8/1 beater that can also flicker itself for protection.

• Charix, the Raging Isle has 0 power, so why is it here? Mostly for the reactions. Though it takes a bit of math, you can certainly make it a 16/1, which is a lot of damage. It's also a ridiculously good blocker.

Armory

None of these equipment boost toughness, so as to keep your creatures unblocked.

• Captain's Claws is a cheap power boost that provides an additional 1/1 attacker that can't be blocked.

• Livewire Lash boosts power, and lets you provide payback for anyone who tries to target the equipped creature. You can also target it with a spell to get the trigger.

• Silver-Inlaid Dagger is a nice +3 power to the handful of humans in this deck, especially Blighted Agent.

• Forebear's Blade is hefty on the mana, but as long as you provide creatures, it can stay equipped, providing +3 power and vigilance.

• Butcher's Cleaver provides +3 power and lifelink, a nice ability to have in mono-blue, for the handful of humans.

• O-Naginata provides a cheap +3 power, though you need to equip it to something that has at least 3 power.

• Fireshrieker provides double strike, which is not only double damage, but double draw triggers.

• Runechanter's Pike can be a big power boost late in the game, and first strike is not irrelevant.

Ramp

The interesting thing with this deck is that mana dorks are actually much better, because most of them are 1/1 or 0/1, so they can pick up a weapon and do some damage if you need them to.

• Silver Myr gives you .

• Manakin and Hedron Crawler give you .

• Apprentice Wizard costs 3, but nets you .

• Kefnet's Monument makes your creatures cheaper, and that second ability...well, it's why it's the cheapest of the monuments, but better than nothing.

• Prying Blade is a power boost and free treasure.

• Explorer's Scope can net you lands off the top of your deck, which means not having to draw and play them later. If not, you still looked at the card while your opponent's didn't, so there's some helpful information.

• Everflowing Chalice is the best budget mana rock you can find right now, methinks. I would expect this to someday get replaced.

• Corrupted Grafstone has a good chance of always providing .

• Dreamscape Artist is a unique one. You can sacrifice a land to get two into play untapped. You also have to discard a card, so you net zero cards, but it's ramp nonetheless.

Removal

This includes counter spells, because those cards still answer threats.

• Reality Shift exiles a creature for 2, at the risk of it manifesting into something else. Still, that's a pretty good way of removing the biggest single threat.

• Unwind counters a noncreature spell and untaps your lands, while Rewind counters any spell. They're expensive at 3 and 4 mana, but as long as you have that mana available, then they're technically free.

• Speaking of free, there's Foil , which is the closest you'll get to Force of Will in this budget.

• Sigil of Sleep can only bounce one creature at a time, but it can keep doing it. It can also be used politically to help someone regain an ETB trigger.

• Arm with AEther and Fade Away are probably the closest this deck will get to board wipes, but we'll take them.

• Stolen by the Fae answers a single threat while providing a sizeable army for you.

• Hands of Binding , our third cipher card, can tap creatures for a while, or keep a single creature tapped down as long as you keep attacking with the encoded creature.

• Gift of Tusks is a nifty budget version of Pongify that's especially good if the opponent is attacking you.

• Thassa's Rebuff is a potentially better Mana Leak , so I'd rather run with that.

Recursion/Protection

• Archaeomancer is a 1-power creature that can bring back an instant or sorcery, always a blue staple.

• Lazotep Plating can deflect spells targeting you or your permanents, while providing a 1/1.

• Salvager of Ruin can be an offensive threat, or it can rescue any of your permanents.

• Mizzium Skin protects one or more of your creatures, but it does boost toughness, so tread carefully.

• Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor is mostly here for the static ability, protecting herself and creatures from single target removal.

• Teferi's Veil is excellent for protecting creatures you want to keep attacking with. Your opponents can't target them, and they won't be subject to board wipes. Plus, any attached auras or equipment phase out with them. Pretty good for a 2-mana enchantment.

Lands

• Faerie Conclave can conveniently turn itself into a 1-toughness creatures you can safely attack with.

• Mystic Sanctuary can get back an instant or sorcery.

• Lonely Sandbar , Desert of the Mindful , and Remote Isle are a suite of cycle lands. Memorial to Genius can be cashed in for more cards later, if needed.

• Buried Ruin should be played in virtually any deck that has a decent emphasis on artifacts.

• Myriad Landscape kind of ramps, though it enters tapped and takes two mana to get out two lands. You pay now for having more mana later, like any ramp spell. The fact it gets three lands out of your deck is nice, too, though deck thinning is not the goal.

• card:Emergenze Zone is handy when you want to give pseudo-haste to a creature, cast some cipher spells, or drop a weapon early.

• Spawning Bed is pretty handy, giving you three 1/1s you can sacrifice for mana, or keep around and attack freely with.

• Rogue's Passage shouldn't be necessary, but it doesn't hurt as a backup.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Exclude colors	WBRG
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Rares 36 - 0 Uncommons 24 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.68
Tokens	Bird Illusion 1/1 U, Copy Clone, Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Faerie 1/1 U, Kor Ally 1/1 W, Kraken 8/8 U, Manifest 2/2 C, Tentacle 1/1 U, Treasure, Wizard 2/2 U, Zombie Army 0/0 B